In some processes, fully assembled absorbent articles are packaged and stacked on a pallet for shipment and distribution to customers. Typically, the absorbent articles are packaged in primary packaging, such as polybags, which are then placed into secondary packaging, such as cardboard containers or poly overwrap. The manufacturer may provide printed indicia on either or both the primary packaging and the secondary packaging, depending on which is intended to be the product ultimately purchased by a consumer. For example, sometimes, a plurality of primary packages of absorbent articles may be bundled together in a secondary package and stacked on a pallet for shipment to a retailer. The secondary package may be a poly overwrap. Once the pallet reaches the retailer, the retailer may remove a secondary package from the stack, remove the primary packages from the secondary package, and place the individual polybags of absorbent articles on the shelf for consumers to purchase. Alternately, a secondary package may be removed from the pallet and placed directly on the shelf with the polybag overwrap, then a consumer purchases the secondary package, takes it home, and opens the polybag overwrap and disposes of it.
Some absorbent articles may have relatively low levels of pulp or no pulp at all. Such absorbent articles may be relatively thin compared to an absorbent article containing higher levels of pulp. However, packages of absorbent articles having little to no pulp may have a low resistance to deformation. As a result, when packages of such absorbent articles are stacked on a pallet, the packages near the top of the stack apply pressure to the packages near the bottom of the stack, causing the absorbent articles positioned near the bottom of the pallet to deform. If the absorbent articles deform, the stacks of packages may lean and possibly fall off of the pallet during shipment and/or storage of the pallets.
Sometimes, in order to prevent the packages of absorbent articles from leaning and falling off of the pallet, the packages may be packaged into cardboard boxes. In other instances, cardboard separators may be placed between adjacent packages to provide additional support to the lower packages in the stack. In some instances, the stacks of packages may be wrapped with a thin thermoplastic film to hold the packages of absorbent articles on the pallet. However, the additional cardboard boxes, cardboard separators, and thermoplastic film may add cost and complexity to the packaging process.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a method and apparatus for packaging absorbent articles having relatively low levels of pulp or no pulp at all such that the absorbent articles are capable of resisting deformation. Also, it would be beneficial to provide a method for stacking bundles of absorbent articles on a pallet for stable shipment of the bundles.